Waking up in the morning with your lower back in pain is a terrible way to start your day. Sciatica pain is a sharp, radiating pain that starts with the sciatic nerve and travels through the buttocks, lower back, and legs. There is no point trying to weather it out, but it makes perfect sense to avoid it or at least reduce your troubles. A good mattress helps reduce the pain, and with that in mind, here are our suggestions for the best mattresses for sciatica pain relief.
- Casper Sleep Mattress
- Leesa Memory Foam Mattress
- Nest Bedding Alexander Signature Hybrid
- Sleep Innovations Shiloh 12-inch Memory Foam Mattress
- Perfect Cloud Elegance Memory Foam Mattress
What Factors Influence Choosing Best Mattress For Sciatica?
Does Your Mattress Help Align The Spine And Have Good Support?
The top job for a mattress is supporting your body comfortably as you sleep. Ideally, this support should align your spine in a more convenient and natural position. With adequate support and correct alignment, your spine will be more relaxed and you will find the pain more manageable, if not completely gone.
How Important Is Pressure Relief?
People who deal with sciatic nerve pain realize how important pressure relief is, because it can directly translate to pain relief. Generally speaking, when you lie on a mattress, heavier parts like hips and shoulders slightly sink into the mattress. Mattress with good pressure relief allows these parts to sink in, but keeps the spine well-aligned and straight, thus reducing pressure on the spine. This is a very valuable quality in any mattress for lower back pain.
Should I Get A Hard Mattress?
Centuries of conventional wisdom declares that a hard mattress can be the best mattress for sciatica. Well, that’s not exactly true. As you know, it is important to keep your spine aligned. A very firm mattress or sleep surface won’t allow heavier parts of the body to sink in completely (or at all), resulting in the spine staying poorly aligned. Similarly, a very plush bed will let heavier parts like buttocks sink easily and put pressure on the spine. Your choice will depend on your weight, but the generic best choice of firmness for a mattress for lower back pain will be medium to medium-firm.
You can check out more mattress selection ideas in our mattress buying guide.
5 Best Mattresses For Sciatica
1. Casper Sleep Mattress
Casper Sleep Mattress has a Zoned Support system, that the manufacturers believe is an excellent solution for pressure relief as well as adequate support. For most sleepers, the bulk of weight on the mattress comes from the weight of the pelvis. This prompts the mattress to sink lower under the weight, and messes up the alignment of the spine.
With Zoned Support, Casper intends to put more support for areas like the pelvis. This arrangement provides more (or reinforced) support for the hips and prevents them from sinking deeper into the mattress. Zoned support is the third layer on the Casper Mattress, with the first two layers being the company’s proprietary foam and dense memory foam.
| Pros | Cons |
| Great support and excellent Zoned Support System for better pressure relief | Some off-gassing complaints |
| Versatile mattress suitable for many sleep positions and weights | A few customers complain of the mattress sleeping hot |
| Well priced, with plenty of choices in mattress size |
2. Leesa Memory Foam Mattress
Leesa Memory Foam mattress comes highly recommended. This mattress brings in all the goodies of memory foam, and strives to reduce its shortcomings. The top layer of the mattress uses the company’s new LSA200 foam, which is claimed to provide excellent pressure relief, and thus serve as a better mattress for lower back pain issues.
Microcell structure of this foam traps air and helps keep the mattress well-ventilated, thus reducing complaints related to heat retention or sleeping hot. The top layer is backed by a layer of responsive memory foam, and together both layers provide the excellent contouring and conforming support that makes memory foam such a popular choice.
| Pros | Cons |
| Excellent pressure relief and support | Some off-gassing issues |
| Mattress firmness is convenient for most back pain sufferers | Poor edge support |
| Responsive foam with some bounce |
3. Nest Bedding Alexander Signature Hybrid
Though a relatively new launch, the Nest Bedding Alexander Signature Hybrid has been attracting attention and is increasingly popular even with its slightly higher price point. Alexander Signature Hybrid takes its claim to being a luxury mattress seriously, and as such has plenty of goodies to offer in terms of support and pressure relief.
At the base of the mattress are 8-inches of “Quantum Edge” pocketed support coils. There’s a total of 5.5-inches of foam above the coils, forming a deep and conforming comfort layer. Foam layers on the mattress are curve-conforming and get extra support from the pocketed coils to provide pressure relief that keeps the sleeper comfortable and the spine aligned.
| Pros | Cons |
| Thick and robust comfort layer provides great support and pressure relief | Some off-gassing issues |
| Excellent edge support | Slightly expensive |
| Ideal firmness and support for average sleeper with sciatic nerve pain |
4. Sleep Innovations Shiloh 12-inch Memory Foam Mattress
Shiloh mattress has 2.5-inches of memory foam at its top to provide cradling comfort with contouring to provide pressure relief and support. This deep conforming support is what makes this mattress a great pick and one of the best mattresses for sciatica.
A simple combo of support foam and memory foam, the Sleep Innovations Shiloh Memory Foam mattress punches far above its weight. It is perhaps this simplicity that makes the mattress a popular, no-frills choice.
| Pros | Cons |
| Great pressure relief | The mattress can be firmer than expected |
| Sleeps temperature neutral | Below average edge support |
| No frills practical mattress | Possibly low longevity, as based on consumer complaints of mattress lifetime |
5. Perfect Cloud Elegance Memory Foam Mattress
The Elegance memory foam mattress has its heart set on being temperature neutral. Thanks to the use of Visco-Gel, it fairs fairly well in staying temperature neutral. But, the 12-inch Perfect Cloud Elegance mattress provides lovely contouring support and pressure relief.
The mattress is supposedly built for most sleep positions, and can handle weights ranging from just 40lbs, and go all the way to become a mattress for 400 pounds person. Elegance stays with a conventional approach and focuses more on pressure relief and deeper sleep rather than any number of bells and whistles that luxury mattresses carry along.
| Pros | Cons |
| Excellent support and pressure relief | Slow response of memory foam used can be annoying and disturbing for many sleepers |
| Anti-microbial and resistant to dust mites | Some customers say that the mattress is initially much too firm for comfort |
Best Mattress For Sciatica — Conclusion
Rather than being in constant threat or pain due to sciatic nerve pain, you can find more comfort by choosing a new mattress. Finding the best mattress for sciatica involves considering support and pressure relief, but most of all you should ensure your spine stays in a straight, and natural position.